Review and Roundup: Stakes are High on Brad Pitt's 'World War Z' UPDATE

The stakes have never been higher for the Hollywood studios as Paramount finally releases Brad Pitt and Marc Forster's beleaguered $200 million zombiepocalypse epic "World War Z" (June 21). Critics are divided (see below). Yes, "World War Z" is a zombie movie. And we have no idea if Paramount will make back its considerable investment. But at least "World War Z" is not based on a comic book, but a thoughtful novel by Max Brooks. The movie is efficient, even at two and a half hours, expertly manipulative, throwing jolts and blurry flesh-biting zombies in your face in 3-D. Forster & Co. alternate noisy chaos and calm silence, frenetic action and solace, family and danger. Forster ("The Kite Runner") knows how to elegantly stage large-scale crowd scenes in exotic locations--the sequence in Israel is as well-wrought as anything in recent movies.

Brit Idris Elba has now seen the film, and had an appreciative tweet for it: "I just saw World War Z and it was a decent approach to the genre... Best zombie acting I've seen... And I've been in a zombie film..."

Here’s the oddest element in this tale of Hollywood
fine-tuning run rampant: the movie is pretty good — the summer’s most urgent,
highest-IQ action picture. The movie hurtles authoritatively from Philly to Newark to
an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic to South Korea to Israel to Wales, like
Richard Engel on a worldwide assignment. And on the personal side, Gerry’s
relationship with his wife (Mireille Enos of Big Love and The Killing) and two
young daughters (Sterling Jerins and Abigail Hargrove) shows all the care and
concern — and the sensible sense of humor — that one would like to think Pitt
lavishes on his own large family. It’s a smarter, more organic display of
affection than the daddy-love scenes in Moneyball, as well an antidote to the
stern father Pitt played in The Tree of Life.

It's all pretty noble, and if nothing else, World War Z
shows off some horrifically effective filmmaking: An early sequence, in which
Pitt's Gerry figures out something has gone terribly wrong as he's driving his
wife (Mireille Enos, of Big Love and The Killing) and two generically adorable
daughters from here to there in Manhattan, is that rare evocation of chaos that
isn't chaotic itself. Shot and edited with chilling clarity, it shows us
vehicles colliding in seconds that feel like eons, or vice versa; metal
crumples like paper and glass shatters as if invested with demonic life.

But Forster's meticulousness—coupled with ample excuses to
blow stuff up—isn't enough to turn World War Z into one of those class-A
end-of-everything movies that leaves you feeling just a little bit queasy,
momentarily uncertain of your own small place in this unmanageable world.

In its quest to smarten up the genre, the filmmakers also
stiffen it. "World War Z" may wear its intellect proudly, but also
consciously translates the zombie premise into a safer context for wider
audiences. It's not the smartest zombie movie ever made, but might be the most
commercial one.

Waves of startling action counterbalance standard one-man-saves-the-day Hollywood heroics in World War Z,
an immersive apocalyptic spectacle that tosses the viewer into the deep
end of a global zombie uprising and doesn't let up until close to the
end. A bunch of impressive set pieces stitched together rather than a
good story convincingly told, this gargantuan production should ride Brad Pitt's
name, teeming action scenes and widespread interest in all things
zombie to strong box office returns, particularly internationally.
Whether it will be enough to compensate Paramount and the assorted
producers for the $200 million-plus investment and all their production
headaches is something they'll have to sweat out.

Rising from an early grave of negative pre-release publicity, director Marc Forster and producer-star Brad Pitt’s much-maligned “World War Z” emerges as a surprisingly smart, gripping and imaginative addition to the zombie-movie canon, owing as much to scientific disaster movies like “The China Syndrome” and “Contagion” as it does to undead ur-texts like the collected works of George Romero. Showing few visible signs of the massive rewrites, reshoots and other post-production patchwork that delayed its release from December 2012, this sleekly crafted, often nail-biting tale of global zombiepocalypse clicks on both visceral and emotional levels, resulting in an unusually serious-minded summer entertainment whose ideal audience might be described as comicbook fanboys who also listen to “Democracy Now.” Opening a week apart from the more four-quadrant-friendly “Man of Steel” in most markets, “World War Z” should post solid enough numbers at home and abroad, but with a rumored final cost well north of $200 million, it’ll need more than a bit of kryptonite up its sleeve to push far into profitability.

What we get is a collection of moderately violent action
set-pieces untroubled by humour or broader coherence… Forster, who directed the
Bond film Quantum of Solace, has done his best to piece together a story from
these incompatible parts, but the final product has an elaborate uselessness
about it, like a broken teapot glued back together with the missing pieces
replaced by parts of a vacuum cleaner.

Despite a lavish budget heading for $200 million (£131
million), World War Z borders on a damp squib for traditional zombie fans. More
an action blockbuster than a horror squelcher, it contains spectacular crowd
scenes that have an Hieronymus Bosch quality, but the film lacks strong meat —
of the emotional and bloody zombie-cannibal sort.

Pitt leads us through the carnage with suitable stoic grace,
but WWZ doesn’t really care about anyone with a pulse.

Forster’s zombies aren’t really zombies at all, and they
often look more like an angry football crowd on a Saturday night – but there’s
never been a more impressive horde of flesh-eaters on the big screen.
Sprinting, gnashing, leaping and head-butting their way through civilisation in
a swarm of thousands, the Zombie apocalypse finally looks big enough to be
believable. Globetrotting from one epic set-piece to the next, WWZ is at its best when the screen is filled –
with CG hordes pouring through crowded streets, piling high at city walls and
overrunning helicopters like ants.